Indonesia - Maritime security and the protection of migrants at sea are the focus of three high level workshops in Indonesia this week - the latest in a series of collaborations between IOM and Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR).

The two-day Maritime Security and Migrant Protection in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea workshop in Jakarta today began examining the existing mechanisms to respond to crises like the 2015 mass exodus of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, many of whom were held hostage on vessels in appalling conditions by traffickers attempting to ransom them back to their families.

“We are pleased to provide a forum where governments and stakeholders can share experiences in an effort to create policies and life-saving responses that will make the oceans safer for everyone,” said IOM Regional Director for Asia-Pacific Dr. Nenette Motus.

“Countries in the region already collaborating on maritime security issues through the Malacca Strait Patrols (MSP) successfully addressed piracy without impinging on sovereignty. There is a lesson there that might be applied to the complex humanitarian challenges involving migrants at sea,” she added.

For the past decade Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have conducted coordinated sea and air patrols of the strategic waterway through which one-quarter of the world’s trade flows. Observers credit the patrols with reducing the number of acts of piracy in the Malacca Strait from 38 in 2004 to zero in 2011.

Attending the workshop to consider several coordination models like the MSP, will be senior naval, coast guard and border control authorities from around the region, academics, international organizations and other stakeholders.

"Over the past few years we have seen how horizontal conflicts have driven migration across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, raising issues of personnel and national security,” said Indonesian Coast Guard head Vice-Admiral Ari Soedewo. “Irregular migration is not an issue for a single country, but a challenge we need to face as a region that requires a coordinated response.”

The Jakarta meeting is the second of three global workshops IOM has organized to address the security and humanitarian challenges of migrants at sea. The first held in San Remo, Italy, in March, focused on responses to the mass population movements to Europe across the Mediterranean. A third workshop will assess operations specifically by Maghreb and Mashreq countries in the same area.

The workshop was held in cooperation with IOM’s global partner UNHCR, with the support of the UK Department for International Development and Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

Later in the week two IOM collaborations with the Indonesian National Police will address the evolving role of the nation’s marine police in managing issues like irregular migrants, people smuggling and maritime fraud, and improve the force’s efforts to educate the public about maritime security issues.

Both are considered important elements of the government’s ongoing strategic pivot towards establishing Indonesia as a martime axis, a core element of President Joko Widodo’s 2014 election platform.

For further information, please contact Paul Dillon at IOM Indonesia, Tel: +62 811 944 4612, Email: pdillon@iom.int